Builders roll dice in Temecula

There is a yin and yang to the way things happen with some ofTemecula’s planning decisions. When signals get crossed, it’s up tothe City Council to sort things out.

I have written previously of the proposed shopping center atRancho California Road and Meadows Parkway that was thwarted by thecouncil after nearby residents rallied together to voiceopposition. Since the supermarket was defeated, all that’s beendeveloped on that lot is a bumper crop of weeds.

When a development is brought to the city, the PlanningDepartment ensures that the application meets various criteriabefore sending the project to the city’s appointed PlanningCommission with a recommendation either for or against approval.The commission then holds a public hearing on the proposedproject.

Here is where the process gets a little weird, but somehow makesperfect bureaucratic sense. Once the Planning Commission makes adecision on a project, city staff then has to adopt that decisionin their presentation to the council, though they can note planningstaff’s initial recommendation in their report.

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So even though city staff originally recommended againstapproving the above-mentioned grocery store that exceeded theexisting zoning, staff had to reverse its initial recommendation inconcurrence with the commission’s approval.

More recently, the Planning Department quirkily recommendedapproving seven homes to be built on half-acre lots in an areazoned for one home per acre. The commission voted to deny theproject and then it came before the council. These split decisionsalways seem to tack on an extra couple of hours to a councilmeeting.

Due to some ambiguity in the zoning of this particular area, thecouncil referred the matter to the city’s General Plan CommunityAdvisory Committee for its recommendation, since its members are inthe process of reviewing the city’s 10-year-old general plan for aneeded update.

Although the process is cumbersome as development projects maketheir way through the Planning Department and then bounce aroundfrom the Planning Commission to the council and then sometimes offto committee, all this scrutiny helps to bring about the bestpossible decision for the community.

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It also takes the participation of residents -- especially thosein the area of a proposed development to help the PlanningCommission and council better understand the impact of a project onthe surrounding neighborhood.

The Temecula council is in an awkward position after suing thecounty over up-zoning. It makes it difficult to then turn aroundand up-zone projects within the city without substantialjustification, such as providing state mandated low-income housingor bringing some significant benefit to the community.

I almost feel sorry for developers that invest a considerablesum to draw up plans, artistic renderings and pay multipleconsultants only to have their project denied. But it is theirchoice to gamble on a project that exceeds current zoningdesignations. Developers who gamble on gaining approval for anup-zoned project in the city of Temecula just might find betterodds with their money at Pechanga.